Netflix viewers arenât happy with Matt Rifeâs new special, Natural Selection.
The 28-year-old comedian recently landed his first special for a mainstream platform. The stand-up begins with a domestic violence joke.
Rife sets the scene at a restaurant in Baltimore, which he characterizes as âratchetââand he reveals that the hostess has a black eye. Rifeâs friend then wonders aloud why she was not moved to the kitchen away from customers. "Yeah,"Rife tells his friend, "but I feel like if she could cook, she wouldnât have that black eye."
The special was filmed at Washington, D.C.âs Constitution Hall, which has a capacity of 3,000 people. When the audience laughs, Rife says heâs âjust testing the waters, seeing if yâall are gonna be fun or not ⌠I figure if we start the show with domestic violence, the rest of the show should be smooth sailing.â
In an interview with Variety from last week, Rife expounded on who his fan base is, sharing that while it was initially women due to his TikTok virality, itâs now a â50/50â split. He says thatâs evidenced at his shows, which are replete with couples and groups of men.
âAnd thatâs one thing that I wanted to tackle in this special was showing people that despite what you think about me online, I donât pander my career to women. I would argue this special is way more for guys,â he told Variety.
âI wanted to make this special for everybody. I pride myself on making my comedy for everybody. Itâs not for a specific demographic. I think if people would just give it the chance without going into it and being like, âOh, only girls like him,â or âPeople only like his face.â If you give it an opportunity, I think youâd like it.â
Netflix viewers werenât pleased with Rifeâs quips about such a serious topic. Check out some responses below.